cold saw vs. band cutoff saw???

What is the advantage(s) or value a cold saw has over a band cutoff saw that justifies the large price difference?

re

cold saw is to bandsaw as bandsaw is to hatchet...................must be channeling the SAT people............

With a cold saw you get a finished edge like a milling cutter would produce. We typically cut to +/- .002 on a cold saw and don't have to square up the saw cut sides on a milling machine. Less burr, straighter cuts. If you are cutting something that doesn't require a finished edge, use a band saw. RJT

Advantages of a cold saw: -

Faster than a bandsaw
Probably slightly more accurate
Easier to pivot for angular cuts
A cold saw is a production machine good for producing lots of small components within its cutting capacity
more suited to smaller quantities
probably more rigid than a band saw and likely to cut mitres better

Disadvantages of a cold saw: -

much more expensive than a band saw
not nearly the same cutting capacity as a band saw
more elaborate band saws can be semi auto or prit near fully auto
blades are probably a lot dearer than band saw blades
a large production type band saw can cut and advance multiple pieces tack welded together at the ends thus producing many more components per cut

An advantage of the band saw is the long blade life...there is just a ton of teeth to do the work, and a small blade kerf which comes into play on a lot of cuts in expensive material. I also like the idea that on a manual band saw (vs. a manual cold saw) you can start a cut and walk away to do other operations, where a cold saw you are a full time operator. If you are talking auto saws, then this is all out the window. A good example is a job we are currently working on: band saw #1 cutting 1-1/8" hex T304 blanks to 8" long (two at a time), then to the CNC lathe for two parts (one on each end), deburr, band saw #2 to saw in half, and back to the cnc for final operation...we have the luxury to have both saws available for this work - so we actually run five ops and fit the two cutting ops in during the 2 minute 20 second cnc cycle time...you cannot fall behind though, or it gets all out of whack.

We can generally cut a larger variety of material sizes on the band saw than the cold saw...right now we have a 1-3/4" x 12" flat on the band saw to cut...takes a good sized cold saw for that.

A cold saw has some great advantages as mentioned above...but we have cut 4" 316SS on our smallest band saw and it holds +/-0.005", and the finish is pretty good, but not as nice as the cold saw. If you are cutting a bunch of small diameter rods or tube and want to hold length close, and got them done quickly, nothing beats the speed of a cold saw with the right blade (tooth count)...you can really run circles around a band saw for stuff like this.

It comes down to what you want to cut on a regular basis, and what you are doing with the parts afterwards. If you are feeding a cnc lathe with 6" diameter slugs, then the band saw may be the right choice, but if you are needing to cut a bunch of smaller stuff, the cold saw is great. I do not believe that the cost of the saws is as much of a factor as you may be indicating...a good band saw is pretty expensive, but there are a bunch of the Jet and Chinese copies that are pretty cheap, so maybe that is what you are comparing to???

Our next band saw will most likely be a HydMech S-20 (manual) or the S20A (auto cycle) ...either has about 18" capacity, great saw, made in Canada...I recall them to be in the $12k range for the manual and $20k for the auto, so they are not cheap by any means. If you are interested in a good, smaller, band saw for less than $2k, I can find the lead on the same one we have (our small one) ...I think KBC tools is the only one I have ever seen have it. I would not normally recommend a catalog saw, but after tuning this one up 10 years ago, it have been a GREAT little saw.

Steve

rayman, "state of confusion" is just cute as a button but seeing as it is utterly meaninless, you will be banned if you don't change that to an actual location within 24 hours.

rayman said:

What is the advantage(s) or value a cold saw has over a band cutoff saw that justifies the large price difference?

Click to expand...

Over here it is the other way around
Cold saw is cheaper as a band saw
A band saw is a much more versal machine It can handle both small and bigger material
For just the small stuff a cold saw is faster but a band saw can handle both the small and big massive material
The bandsaws I have in mind pivot the same way a cold saw does
Here is an example

Peter

There has been a lot of discussion about this before- try searching.

Here is one recent thread.
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/showthread.php?t=169104

In an Apples to Apples comparison, a cold saw is similar, or cheaper, than a bandsaw.
That is, if you are actually comparing industrial quality, accurate machines in a similar size range.

Of course, a $300 disposable throwaway chinese 4x6 bandsaw is cheaper than a 14" full auto cold saw.

But a decent bandsaw, made in north america, japan, or europe, will easily run you as much as a similar cold saw.

There are cheapo, chinese cold saws- Grizzly sells one for $1000. that is only single speed, with a ten inch blade. But the equivalent Grizz bandsaw, with a slightly bigger cut capacity, and similar swivel features, is maybe the $1400 G0613.

Basically, for material that is appropriate for the blade speed of the cold saw you buy, a cold saw is faster, and more accurate. It is usually a 3 phase, heavy machine, most are imported from europe, and built accordingly- that means, pretty well.

Cold saws are reasonable for material up to about 3" or so- bigger than that, they get fiendishly expensive, whereas bandsaws can be bought up to 48" if you want.

Bandsaws will cut a wider range of materials- most coldsaws are good for mild, and so so for harder stuff, if they have the right speed range, and also only sorta ok for non-ferrous, again, only if they have the right speed range. But a bandsaw can easily be set up to cut a wide range of material.

Cold saws are usually great at miters, and really good at hollow stuff like pipe or square tube, that tend to wander on any but the best bandsaws.

I would disagree about blade costs- if I am careful, one $150 cold saw blade will last me 5 years or more, with resharpenings, but I go thru a dozen bi-metal bandsaw blades a year on my little 4x6's, and they cost $25 or so each.

A cold saw is great for some things, but a bandsaw is better for unattended cutting of bundles, for larger sizes, and for oddball alloys.
I have 3 or so bandsaws, and could use another one, but the coldsaw gets used a lot more for precise cut to length stuff.